This invention relates generally to press loading of projectiles and more particularly to an automatic press which senses the volume remaining to be filled and automatically sizes fill increments accordingly.
In the past, projectiles have been press loaded using the following technique. Explosive powder is poured into a projectile and compacted. Additional weighed powder increments of various sizes are manually poured into the projectile and compacted until the compacted explosive level nears the nose of the projectile. The depth of that level from the nose is measured and then, an estimated weight of powder, based on that measurement, is poured into the projectile to bring the final compaction level to a prescribed depth from the nose. Approximately six weighted increments are needed to complete loading of a projectile. The weight of the last increment is varied to compensate for the variations in internal volumes of the projectile.